Terri Nelson

Terri Nelson is an illustrator and cartoonist living in Portland, Oregon. She’s been drawing animals and plants since before she could read.

She holds a B.A. in Fine Art from the University of California at Santa Cruz, and a Masters in Elementary Education from Portland State University. She taught art in elementary schools throughout Portland, Oregon and the surrounds, as well as classes at OMSI and the Pacific Northwest College of Art. She ran an internship program with Helioscope for a number of years. She has retired from teaching at the moment in order to concentrate on producing her own artwork and books, but everything she does reflects her love of science and desire to educate while having fun.

In 2014, she was awarded a grant from the Regional Arts and Culture Council to study scientific illustration through the University of Washington. She and Susan McCarthy are the 2015-2016 recipients of the National Science Foundation’s Artists Program in Antarctica, and lived at Palmer Station, Antarctica, as part of the United States Antarctic Program in the summer season of 2016. She is a member of the national Guild of Scientific Illustrators, the Guild of Natural Science Illustrators, NW and is working with the Guild Natural Science Illustrators, Oregon as a program coordinator.

Terri’s work has been shown all over the Northwest, from the Maryhill Museum in Washington to the Mayor’s office in Portland, Oregon. She may be seen teaching kids to draw on Oregon Public Broadcasting’s Art Beat, as part of their series entitled “Teaching Creativity.”

She is currently at work on a children's book based on her time spent at the Antarctic. You can view her portfolio of work at terridrawsstuff.com, purchase prints from her at her Etsy store, and read all about her time in the Antarctic at polarsouth.com.